MONTREAL (CP) - Among his many hockey fights, Dennis Bonvie says he took on opponents who had bulked up on steroids.
''I know I have,'' Bonvie said Tuesday. ''I can't name anybody, but I handled myself fine.
''You know from seeing them one year to the next. You see a big difference in size. And sometimes you see a guy who wasn't doing that well and suddenly he's whipping guys.''
The 31-year-old Bonvie, who played 92 NHL games from 1994 to 2003 and who now plays for Hershey in the AHL, said he never used steroids and doesn't believe they are widespread in hockey. But he knows they are there.
And he lauded former enforcer Dave Morissette's efforts to warn young players of performance-enhancing drugs in his book - Memoires d'un dur a cuire (Memoires of an Enforcer) - in which the former Montreal Canadien says using steroids and stimulants helped end his career.
''If he doesn't mention names and he's trying to carry the message to kids, I don't mind it,'' said Bonvie, a feared fighter in the early 1990s with the OHL's North Bay Centennials.
''I know Dave Morissette. He's a good individual and if he's talking to kids, that's a good first step. Everybody should be saying that.''
Nick Kypreos, a tough winger in the 1990s who is now a hockey analyst on Rogers Sportsnet, agreed, adding that Morissette's book is not likely to cause the uproar that followed the steroid allegations in a recent book by former baseball slugger Jose Canseco.
''I appreciate the way he did it, as opposed to Canseco, who threw everybody under the bus,'' he said. ''I have more respect for Morissette. He just said ''here's what I did and I'm the one suffering from the effects of it now.''
Morissette says stimulants such as the cold remedy Sudafed are common throughout hockey to give players a boost before games, but that it is difficult to say how many use steroids because it is not discussed among players in the dressing room.
Defenceman Stephane Quintal estimated 40 per cent of NHL players use stimulants, most of which are bought over-the-counter at pharmacies, but that steroids appear to be favoured mostly by the tough guys. Both are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
''The feeling is that it still belongs to the big, bulky guy - the lineman - as opposed to the shifty hockey player,'' said Kypreos.
Kypreos, another former North Bay Centennial, broke into the NHL in 1989 with the Washington Capitals, not long after Canada was rocked by the Ben Johnson steroid scandal at the 1988 Olympics.
''After that, you were aware that there were things that could help you perform at a higher level. And in the early 1990s, when you're dealing with 750 NHL players, you'd be naive to think there weren't a few who dabbled.''
But he doubted that use of muscle-building drugs is widespread ''because of the stigma that follows steroids, especially in this country with the Ben Johnson situation.
''It's taboo. Even if hockey is in a situation where there's no testing, you'd still be labelled as a guy who cheats.''
Both the NHL and the NHL Players' Association are in favour of some sort of dope testing, which is expected be part of the next collective bargaining agreement should the two sides ever solve the impasse that has seen the players locked out all season.
Many athletes use creatine and other legal protein supplements to help put on weight during training.
Bonvie said steroids aren't necessary.
''You see guys getting big enough on their own,'' he said. ''You go into the gym and do the right things, you'll get big and strong.
''Steroids is the easy way out. You'll get big and strong, but it's not right. You can't get super-big because your body can't support it. They become too strong for their bodies and then when they break down, they really break down.''
Morissette, who played only 11 NHL games but spent years in the minors, says he suffered chronic knee and shoulder problems because he had become too heavy for his body to sustain.
He also suffered multiple concussions that ended his career in 2001.
''We need drug-testing,'' added Bonvie. ''That puts everybody on a level playing field.''